Book Review: E.L.V.

I originally posted this on a forum and thought a few other people might like to read it too. Copy and paste ahoy!

I recently re-read this book:

E.L.V.

For about the 4th time. I've had it a while, and always enjoy it. I then read the sequel which is also rather good but gets more and more difficult to read as it goes along, probably why part 3 never made it to print!

So what is it? Well, E.L.V. stands for Evolution Limitation Volunteers, whose job is to travel back in time from the year 95 SEGS in order to prevent houseflies from growing to the size of cathedrals. They also have a problem with mice, but not the usual type. These are more like modified computer mice, with a twisted sense of humour. They have destroyed 99.9% of the world's books, and corrupted the computerised data storage (but not everyone thinks they have!)

It is a very funny read, with time-travel mechanics in the vein of Bill & Ted and humour similar to that of Terry Pratchett. Daft things happen, but they also end up being something clever. You sort of piece together what has happened to humanity as you go along, and everything is explained in the end... but not in a way that makes you feel stupid.

The main character Trafalgar Hurlock is instantly likeable and you share his views on the people around him. He's also useless (much like Rincewind or Arthur Dent), and asks for a lot of help from his future self. The sequel involves him fixing all the things he originally needs help with, which is why it begins to get so complicated! However, it is just as funny and even more clever with it's historical interferences.

I first discovered this book via my dad, whole stole it from a ship's library. He then got the sequel from a different ship! They're the only books he thought of as good enough to steal and re-read. So they must be good, huh?

Amazon has them for next to nothing, so why not take the risk and give them a go?

Hope you enjoy them as much as I have done (many times)!